The Waipu Lagoons is a series of small coastal

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

s near the city of New Plymouth in the

Taranaki Region Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. They consist of three lakelets with a combined surface area of about , located from the Tasman Sea, immediately to the east of Bell Block. The lagoons plus surrounding wetlands totalling are a local purpose conservation reserve owned by the New Plymouth District Council. Bird species found at the reserve include: *

Australasian bittern The Australasian bittern (''Botaurus poiciloptilus''), also known as the brown bittern or matuku hūrepo, and also nicknamed the "bunyip bird", is a large bird in the heron family Ardeidae. A secretive bird with a distinctive booming call, it is ...

(''Botaurus poiciloptilus'') – endangered * Australian coot (''Fulica atra australis'') *

Grey teal The grey teal (''Anas gracilis'') is a dabbling duck found in open wetlands in Australia and New Zealand. Description It can be identified due to the presence of a crimson coloured iris in its eyes.Winter, M. (2018). Grey Teal. Wilderness Mag ...

(''Anus gracilis'') *

Pukeko The Australasian swamphen (''Porphyrio melanotus'') is a species of swamphen (''Porphyrio'') occurring in eastern Indonesia (the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands), Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, it is known as the pu ...

(''Porphyrio porphyrio'') Raupo (''Typha orientalis''), flax (''

Phormium tenax ''Phormium tenax'' (called flax in New Zealand English; in Māori; New Zealand flax outside New Zealand; and New Zealand hemp in historical nautical contexts) is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an i ...

''), and bamboo spike-sedge ('' Eleocharis sphacelata'') are the principal plant species.

References

Lagoons of New Zealand Landforms of Taranaki Protected areas of Taranaki {{Taranaki-geo-stub